1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally concerns firearm equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to mechanisms for locking accessories to firearm accessory rails.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, an accessory such as a keyhole mounted accessory has been attached to AR-15 and M-16 firearms by mounting directly to a Military Standard 1913 Picatinny Arsenal rail design (“Picatinny rail”), which is coupled to the barrel of the firearm. There are numerous ways to mount an accessory to a Picatinny rail, some of which are described herein.
One method of locking an accessory to a Picatinny rail uses a slide-on mechanism. For example, the top of an accessory may contain a groove into which the bottom edge of the rail can slide. The accessory locks into the rail by way of a “screw-core” locking mechanism. The center of the grip, when tightened, is raised into one of the holes in the Picatinny rail and locks the accessory into place.
A similar method uses a rotating accessory body. The top of the accessory also contains grooves, but rather than sliding on to the Picatinny rail, the accessory rotates onto the edge of the rail and then locks into place using the screw-core method.
The simplest way of mounting an accessory to a Picatinny rail is by using a screw on the side of the accessory. In general, the screw indexes and compresses the accessory material to the rail. However, there are different methods of installing the accessory before tightening the screw. The rail may slide onto the accessory (“slide-on” method), the rail may be dropped into an opening or groove on the accessory (“drop-on” method), or a moving clamp may be used to connect the accessory to the rail. Some designs utilize a thumb knob instead of screw for tightening the accessory to the rail.
Alternatively, the accessory may be attached to the rail by using a throw-lever tensioning device in combination with a drop-on method and a clamp.
As mentioned, attaching the accessory to a Picatinny rail is the most popular locking method. However, some designs do not utilize the Picatinny rail because users may not always use a Picatinny rail on their firearms. For example, some designs utilize bolts to attach the accessory. Other similar designs using screws also have been used in the industry. The earliest uses of these designs date back to World War I.
Although each of these methods is effective for mounting the accessory to a firearm, including methods with or without utilizing a Picatinny rail, none of them is effective for mounting an accessory, such as a keyhole mounted accessory, to a firearm that utilizes an accessory rail that uses a certain hole configuration. For example, KeyMod™ rail and hole configuration is used herein as an exemplary system. Therefore, there is a need for mechanisms that lock an accessory to a modular accessory rail easily and securely.